Emperor Constantine I (The Great)

The Throne of the Caesars: Emperor Constantin...

Roman Emperor A. D. 306 - 337

Dominate Period

In A. D. 325, Constantine presided over the Council of Nicaea. Bishops from all over the Roman world gathered together to have Constantine help them decide on the nature of God. They worked out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, in which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were found to be equal persons in one God. Also, the Arian heresy was denounced at the Council of Nicaea. The Arians believed that Jesus Christ was somehow of a lesser importance, and had been created by, God the Father.

Two years later, dark intrigue and tragedy struck the house of Constantine. Constantineπs wife, Fausta, had accused Constantine's eldest son Crispus of adultery with her and plotting to seize the throne. Without checking the truth of these accusations, Constantine had his son murdered. It is thought that she made the accusation in order to place one of her own sons in line for the throne, as Crispus was Constantine's son by a previous marriage. When Constantine discovered that he had been lied to, he had Fausta suffocated or boiled alive in her bath by slowly running up the temperature of the water.

Constantine died at Nicomedia on May 22, 337. It is believed that he was baptized a Christian on his deathbed.